Becca Pugh, right, a Moffat County High School senior, blossomed through her involvement in the school’s student council, where she now is president. She holds a ceremonial gavel that represents the council, and is shown above wearing a bandage after giving blood at a school blood drive the council organized.

Becca Pugh overcame fears to win a seat on MCHS Student Council

This month in M2 ...

This month’s Moffat Monthly spotlights rising stars at Craig Middle School, Moffat County High School, and young adults 25 and under in the local business community. Look for the section inside Wednesday’s Craig Daily Press.

At a glance …

Name: Becca Pugh

Age: 18

Residence: Craig

Activities:

— Moffat County High School senior and Student Council president.

— Member of Youth United Way and Key Club.

Quotable

“It has really taken me out of my comfort zone and helped me a lot.”

— Becca Pugh,a Moffat County High School senior, about her involvement with the school’s student council

Becca Pugh is nothing like the student body president portrayed in most teen movies.

She wasn’t the popular girl in school, at least not initially.

The 18-year-old Moffat County High School senior is quiet by nature, and learning to speak publicly was sometimes a painful process, she said.

In short, Becca’s ascent to the student council presidency wasn’t a product of effortless charm or graced social status. She earned it through hard work and by extending herself far beyond her self-perceived limitations.

Her success story almost didn’t happen. In the beginning of her freshman year, Becca was on a path that led far from a seat on the student council.

She was painfully self-conscious and rarely spoke in class.

“I was just the student that didn’t stand out,” she said.

By the time she entered MCHS, she had fallen in with the wrong crowd because “they were the only ones that talked to me,” she said.

Then, when she was a freshman, two sophomores convinced her to attend a student council meeting.

There, she “fell in love” with the idea of having a say in issues impacting the student body, she said.

Becca served as a Student Council representative for the freshman class that year. She rose through the officers’ ranks during her sophomore, junior and senior years, making successful bids for treasurer, secretary and president, respectively.

In her eyes, the president’s position is more about responsibility than prestige.

“People really look up to you when you’re in student council,” she said. “They really expect you to know what you’re doing and expect you to follow through what you say. … If you say something, you need to follow through it or you will lose support.”

She splits her time between Student Council and other activities, including serving on Key Club, Youth United Way and MCHS band, where she plays flute and piccolo.

She remained the quiet student in class, but that’s a credit to her personality, said Sylvia Duncan, one of Becca’s former English teachers at Moffat County High School.

“I think that she’s a deliberate thinker,” said Duncan, who retired in 2011. “When she talks, it’s meaningful.”